Other People’s Money

Other People’s Money
by Jerry Sterner
September 2012

Just in time for the election season, Main Stage West presents a timely satire about both sides of venture capitalism. In OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY, playwright Jerry Sterner creates a fast paced, cutthroat, predator-prey-style business world in which the key players fight for their principles on both sides of a corporate takeover. Andrew Jorgenson (John Craven), nicknamed Jorgy, is Chairman of New England Wire and Cable, a company that was founded by his forefathers and has for years provided jobs to many residents in his small Rhode Island town. The company is debt-free, has a “gorgeous balance sheet,” and lucrative stock. Jorgy takes a great personal pride in the company’s success, so much so that he seems blind to the threat posed by an unfriendly suitor named Lawrence Garfinkle (Keith Baker) who now owns nearly 30 percent of the company’s stock (and is still buying). Enter Kate Sullivan (Laura Lowry*), a smart, beautiful young attorney and the daughter of Jorgy’s faithful executive assistant, Bea (Joan Hawley), who takes on Garfinkle in an epic battle of wits and will. In the middle of it all is the storyteller William Coles (Larry Williams) who is in line to be the next CEO of the corporation.